What Chris said, I'd be worried about PVC from that old plastic. May not show but still might be present on the coins.
You're kidding, right? That's OGP, and proof of authenticity.... If PVC were a problem you'd already know it.
Isn't that the scene where PN is riding on the bicycle? (And if I got it right I did not look at the internet.)
Because this is an original set in government packaging. As such they have value as an original set. Remove the coins from the holder and they are just coins from that year, nothing special and of little value. Kind like an old US double mint set. The set in the original holder is worth much more than if you popped the coins out and put them in 2X2's (Assuming no real high grades or toners, just average coins.)
Ah the old Catch-22. This particular OGP is the most PVC-laden stuff in all of numismatics. Many are downright slimy with the oozing plasticizer. The entire 1953 U.K. set is a one year type. First year with Liz, last year with the Empress of India abbreviated on the legend.
I would not have paid that much for the set shown above. We've all been there. Personally i'm trying to better assess a collections worth. I find i'll do really well on pricing out certain parts of a collection, and then go way over on others. Again it's all about what you like. Those coins meant something to you and it's only $15. Not the end of the world. Just learn from it, the next time you go buying. ~JobIII
And another part of the Catch 22 is that the PVC might be there on the coins but not be seeable at this point. It could be just clear and sticky but no way of knowing unless the package were opened. I had to throw away a good many old albums, Coinmaster I believe, because of the PVC I found many years later. It was clear, I did not see it either until I pulled the slides out and examined the coins.
If you can't see what it's done yet, it's still easy to save the coins. In the case of this set, I see nothing alarming even if there are plasticizers currently reacting - it's hardly "too late." C-B-D knows well enough to see it if it's there, and to do the right thing.
I have a set that has muted luster. Not sure if it's too late or if I didn't try the right stuff yet. The plastic itself is becoming a puddle. The coins and the OGP package live separate lives now. I can't believe how many foreign album systems still use PVC. Not good.
They still look pretty good, but the overall greenish cast of the plsstic is giving me flashbacks, dude, bad flashbacks.... Make it stop!